Juicy Retouching Critique!!

[transoptic]

Hey I wanted to post a retouch job I did just last night.

I like working with macro beauty photos the most, so let me know what you think!

[klev]

Re: Juicy Retouching Critique!!

They probably should have used a sharper knife to cut the orange. Having a variety of fruit samples would have helped too, so as to pick out the perfect ones. Apart from that these things dry out rather quickly, so it can be difficult. That said I would suggest that you do more than just chop off bits of it. The makeup involves a fairly hard lip line, and it should have the feeling of a well cut orange slice. Right now it looks like it was just chopped off in photoshop. I can't see anything that looks like a true edge, and it's still not very straight. I would also suggest further work on the lips. Part of your reshaping was an issue of inconsistency in the makeup. I wouldn't have handled that via reshaping. I would simply extend the line a bit, although it can be tricky to make it perfect. The lips should be much cleaner in certain spots, and I would suggest that if these are your own images and you have the artistic license to do so, you redo a certain amount of the reflection on the lips. It's a very high gloss lip color, and the shape of the reflection to me implies too much roughness or discontinuity. A more amorphous non-disjoint shape would imply smoother curvature and supple lips. Along the cheek in the back, you created a small amount of inconsistency when chopping off the hair. It should remain a fairly soft line due to the lack of depth of field, but that should have a bit more consistency. The last thing is that I'm not sure the color correction was favorable to the tongue or the gold glittery portion of the lip makeup. I'm not thrilled with the way it's applied very heavily in the original, but you can see how it brings out dark spots on the lower lip. I also don't consider its final color to be very flattering. This also contributes to a very hard feeling along the shadows, especially with their shape. I think the shape kind of is what it is there, but I don't think making them so deep really adds to the image. Last last thing is that you may want to consider purchasing an anatomy book. While you may not feel the shadow below the lip is flattering, shortening it in that manner was a mistake. It makes it feel very sudden and out of place. I don't think you'll get away with making it a softer shadow, so I would revert that adjustment.

I have looked at a lot of photos similar to this, and I doubt I could pull off one that would meet with my own approval. It just involves an immense amount of detail to really nail it, and without absolutely nailing it there are many others that can pull off something at least as good. These notes should give you some ideas as to what could be improved from where it stands right now that are not impossible to implement with a tiny bit of painting skill. I often sketch out an approximation on a separate layer with things like reflections, just to put the idea on canvas. I didn't do that here. If I was going to, it would take some time trying to get a shape that still resembles the lighting and doesn't remove all inconsistency while conveying a feeling of greater continuity over the surface of the lips.

Alright there's my long winded post.

[transoptic]

Re: Juicy Retouching Critique!!

I agree about the cut of the orange, however I didn't shoot the photo so that's a little out of my control and it's hard for me to visualize what a properly cut slice would look like at this angle and make it look real.

I've done some slight reshaping of the specular highlights on the gloss,
and the shadow above the chin was just too distracting to me, although I can concede that a smoother gradient from shadow to non-shadow could have been done.

Thanks, and I welcome any more replies!

[Nanls]

Re: Juicy Retouching Critique!!

Alright there's my long winded post.

Nice Critique!

[klev]

Re: Juicy Retouching Critique!!

I agree about the cut of the orange, however I didn't shoot the photo so that's a little out of my control and it's hard for me to visualize what a properly cut slice would look like at this angle and make it look real.

I've done some slight reshaping of the specular highlights on the gloss,
and the shadow above the chin was just too distracting to me, although I can concede that a smoother gradient from shadow to non-shadow could have been done.

Thanks, and I welcome any more replies!

In some cases it's possible to almost paint highlights and blend them in, depending on the texture involved and how bright. I understand why you removed the shadow. It was just too obvious and lacked balance at that stage. It can be difficult to get it right, because the hue is generally different from the rest, and there isn't necessarily a lot of separation in the given region.

Anyway I mainly wanted to reply on the issue of a properly cut slice. You don't have to imagine it. Look up reference. That's what they do when creating virtual effects, and I know at least some retouching shops do the same thing. In your case, just go through images on google until you find some that you like. If you have a secondary display, keep them up there for reference while you work. That way you can refer to them to identify necessary characteristics. Points that should be considered are whether any thin amount of the white portion should be visible, as it often is at the very center of an orange. Otherwise it may go slightly transparent when you're very near the edge due to the decrease in thickness. The same goes for reflections. You can always look for reference, and in that case the reference doesn't even have to be another pair of lips. I was just thinking of more of a smooth flowing amorphous reflection than something with jaggy portions.

Nice Critique!

Thanks. I try to make it clear what I like or dislike rather than present too mechanical of a strategy.

[DJSoulglo]

Re: Juicy Retouching Critique!!

I'd say the following points could use some attention:

- the cut of the orange is too messy, clean it up.
- There's a weird highlight at the bottom of the mouth that you don't need
- the shape of the lips is still slightly jagged in places
- edge on the face could be a little nicer
- the teeth still need a bit of love.
- the rest is taste. I'm not loving the blue tint in the BG, but that's just me.

[Mike Needham]

Re: Juicy Retouching Critique!!

I may be tempted to clean up more of the lipstick bleed, although I think you have erred on the side of caution and that's normally wise.